We were thinking of going to a hotel (in town, literally just down the road) for Valentine's Day this year. We planned to go Friday-Sunday this last weekend.
Friday morning Joshua looked at me and asked, "Would you rather just stay home?" That sounded great to me (and more frugal!), so he called the hotel and cancelled.
We had a wonderful weekend together. Thursday, for Valentine's Day, I made an apple pie and calzones for supper (SO yummy), and we exchanged gifts. Joshua bought me a beautiful necklace, and took me out for supper on Friday as well. I decorated a mug with "sixteen things I love about you"--the list covered the whole mug. He loved it. :)
Saturday we slept in, cooked and ate a lot of good food, watched movies, and just relaxed. I had a sub for work for my two hours so we didn't even leave the house all day. That doesn't happen often!
Why do I love staying home instead of going out for dates? Or going on a little getaway like we'd planned?
-I don't have to pack. That was so nice!
-We can cook and eat whatever food we feel like making (instead of hotel continental breakfasts and restaurants).
-We sleep in our own bed. That doesn't need any explanation.
-We're totally alone, versus being in public...ahem. Again, no explanation needed...
-If we have a dinner-and-a-movie date, we can eat dinner on our couch and watch whatever movie we want, thanks to Netflix, and not choose from what's at the theater.
-We save on gas.
-Overall, it's cheaper!
-I don't have to put on makeup, or change out of pajamas (we stayed in our PJ's for a long time on Saturday...don't judge!).
-We're in the comfort and familiarity of our own home, instead of being in a hotel.
-At home, we can decide between baking something together, playing a favorite game, watching our latest favorite TV show (Joshua's working through "24")...or whatever ;) There are more options for activities at home than at a hotel. And they don't cost anything (or at least not much!).
-Did I mention the privacy? And the inexpensivity? (That is now a word.)
My favorite thing about staying home for dates is that because we're relaxed and in our most familiar environment, we're more likely to talk about important things, because we're not discussing things like "What channel should we pick out of the five million on this TV?" or "What time do we have to get up so we don't miss the continental breakfast?" or "How do you set this alarm clock?" or "Did you bring my pajamas?"
There are a lot of good reasons to go out for a date, or get away for a weekend. But since we don't have kids yet, it's really easy to find time to be alone, and being home is nice. We're both home-bodies, and I'm really okay with that! I think it's SO important to keep dating even now that we're married. It's essential for the health of our relationship to spend intentional time together, focusing specifically on each other. We plan to keep up the dating habit for our whole marriage, even after we start having children!
What are your favorite things to do for an at-home date? What do you like about staying home with your spouse?
Linking with: Exceptionalistic, The Alabaster Jar, The Better Mom, What Joy is Mine, Raising Arrows, lowercase letters , Countrified Hicks, To Love, Honor, and Vacuum
I agree. Dating IS important - your (future) children will see you and your spouse and learn from you.
ReplyDeleteOur kids are grown - but they saw Rob and I being deliberate about time together, and now I see our son and daughter-in-love being conscious to keep enjoying their time together.
For a few months they lived with us till their house closed on a sale. Tuesdays nights were date night for both of us couples. Robert and I went out for the evening, and the young couple (married 2 years) stayed in to have some privacy. ;-)
I love that--how you worked it out with your kids so all the married couples got time alone! :) We are blessed by the amazing examples our parents are. :)
ReplyDeleteHello, I'm visiting from What Joy is Mine!
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your post and totally agree. Going out can be expensive and far less intimate. However, my hubby and I have 3 kiddos and we like to get away sometimes, but more often than not we will actually send them to grandmas instead of going away ourselves :) Glad you had an awesome Vday!
Oh, I'm sure that when we have kids we'll need to actually get away more! But what a blessing that you can send your kids to their grandma's. :) It's so important to have alone time, even with kids!
DeleteThere are many times I prefer to just stay in. I love that you list the reasons this was beneficial to you. Sometimes we are so anxious to change things up that we don't realize how awesome things are just under our noses!!
ReplyDeleteYou're so right! I think we get so used to the normalcy of home that we don't realize how many creative date ideas exist in our own house. :)
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